Google did not violate labour laws when it fired James Damore, a former employee who was ousted from the company last year for criticising the…
Google did not violate labour laws when it fired James Damore, a former employee who was ousted from the company last year for criticising the tech giant for its diversity policy, according to the federal agency that oversees employment practices.
« Employers must be permitted to ‘nip in the bud’ the kinds of employee conduct that could lead to a ‘hostile workplace,' » a lawyer with the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) wrote in an agency memorandum made public this week, CNET reported.
Damore’s memo, titled » Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber « , claims that when it comes to technology, there is a biological differences between men and women.
Before his firing, Damore had filed a complaint with the NLRB that charged Google with « misrepresenting and shaming me in order to silence my complaints ».
But the NLRB lawyer said Google fired the computer engineer not for expressing dissenting views or criticism, but over « unprotected discriminatory statements » in his memo, which he had posted to internal discussion forums at the tech giant.
« Employers have a strong interest in promoting diversity and encouraging employees across diverse demographic groups to thrive in their workplaces, » attorney Jayme Sophir wrote in the memorandum.
« The statements regarding biological differences between the sexes were so harmful, discriminatory, and disruptive as to be unprotected, » Sophir stated.
Damore withdrew the NLRB complaint last month to focus on a lawsuit against Google .
In his lawsuit filed in a California court, Damore said that Google « ostracised, belittled and punished » him and a fellow plaintiff.
He added that he and others who share his views at Google long have been « singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished and terminated from Google, in violation of their legal rights ».
Google CEO Sundar Pichai had said he did not regret firing Damore .
When asked about Google’s decision to fire Damore during an interview with MSNBC last month, Pichai said, « I don’t regret it. It was the right decision.
« The last thing we do when we make decisions like this is look at it with a political lens. »
